Thursday, 27 June 2013

Easy options on the food front

One of the most surprising things about the last week has
been that, after arriving home from Liverpool last Friday, I didn’t leap
straight into a Pot Noodle phase.

Utterly knackered, it was tempting. But when I'd crawled up
the platform at Euston, I opted instead for the easiest ‘quality’ option:
M&S.

I had been contemplating lamb chops, but since the only
available ones were from New Zealand, I opted for something a little more local
– British bacon.

And to go with that, new potatoes and asparagus.

It was a simple matter to boil the spuds and the asparagus
(20 and three minutes respectively) and then pop the bacon into a hot pan and
let it sizzle gently for a while, curling and browning; moved around
occasionally with tongs.

Frankly, I didn’t even feel like arranging it on a plate,
but tossed it all together, added butter, seasoning and the bacon juices.

Even after a week that had seen a couple of decent
restaurant meals, there was something heavenly about the result. And it had all been ridiculously easy top cook.

The cats were delighted to see me home, but an absence
means that one is told in no uncertain terms, that they are owed.

In Otti’s case, she was determined that, despite never
having eaten it before, she was going to try bacon. Allowed to have a little
piece (after I’d finished – I do try to teach them some patience) she then decided that it was very nice indeed and
why hadn’t I shared more with her?

Saturday allowed a return to Broadway Market and the great
what-shall-we-eat-for-the-coming-week challenge.

In this case, I started from a fishy perspective – sea
bass, filleted.

Potatoes were par boiled and then slightly crushed before
being drizzled with olive oil, seasoned and then popped into the oven (160˚C
fan) for 20 minutes.

The bass – slashed carefully on the skin, seasoned and lightly
oiled – were placed on top and given a further 15 minutes.

Bass with potatoes and seasonal veg.

This was served with fine beans and asparagus, a drizzle or two of my balsamic glaze and a wedge of lemon. And jolly nice it was too.

An experiment with tuna didn’t quite go as planned, though.

Unusually, Vicki had a big slab, so I decided to buy a
slice (it’s enough for the two of us).

It was intended for Monday – Vicki said it should be okay
for that, but to watch out for the ‘rainbow’ effect in case it did start to go.

To be on the safe side, I decided to try something a bit
different, and salt it. The Spanish – mojama
– and although I couldn’t find a specific recipe, how hard could it be?

I used a mix of ordinary salt together with some fleur de sel that The Other Half had
picked up for me on his recent trip to Perpignan: one that was infused with banyuls, the sweet wine from that area.

On Sunday evening, I rinsed it off and left it to soak ion
fresh water. That was changed again on Monday morning and one last time when I
got home that afternoon.

All that went okay, but unfortunately it still came out as
incredibly salty.

Still, failures are part of the process of learning.

In the meantime, the potager
is going a bit bonkers after struggling to show real signs of life for so long.

I will shortly have peas – and the broad bean pods are just
appearing. One of the runner beans is already taller than me – okay, I know this
doesn’t mean much.

There will be a small crop of blackcurrants – but this is
year one.

The salad leaves are doing well, as are the radishes, the
spring onions and the gem lettuces, while the chard is coming on decently, as
are the carrots and turnips.

The vine is growing well, the lemon has produced a plethora
of buds, the nasturtiums are finally producing leaves in something approaching
abundance and the four tomato plants that we were given by a friend look to
have settled in comfortably.

Who knows – the weather might even allow for cropping a few
leaves this weekend. But it’s enormously exciting to see crops developing in
such a way.

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About Me

London-based journalist, writer, photographer and artist, with one Other Half and three cats.
This blog is about all sorts of things, but mostly reviews. My interests include comics and opera (and even comic opera), cats, tattoos and art.
100% personal. Non-PC. No 'party line'.
You can see some of my photography at http://amandakendalart.tumblr.com
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